Conversation at the Airport Check-in

Most people love travelling. The thrill of visiting new places, experiencing new cultures, meeting new people, probably learning a new language and viewing exciting and new vistas...everything makes travelling to a new places exciting and fun.

So, how do you travel to the wonderful places overseas? Of course, by the airplane, you would say! While airplanes have made traveling simpler and life easier, the whole process can be quite intimidating, or overwhelming, for a person who is not fluent in English. No matter what country you are travelling to, English is by far the most common language spoken all over the world. Even in countries where English is not the first language, airport authorities usually speak in English to get things moving.

In such case, if you are not a confident English speaker, how will you talk your way into the check-in and other subsequent procedures? In this part of the series, 'situational conversations', we bring to you a gist of the standard conversation that can take place at the check-in counter of an airport. Thankfully, any conversation at the check-in (anywhere around the world) follows a standard pattern. Following is a rough idea of how the conversation progresses. While we are not saying that this is exactly what a conversation at the airport check-in will be like, however, you will get some idea that will help you in being prepared beforehand.

The conversation will be between the check-in clerk and the passenger. Just for the sake of brevity, we will call the check in clerk, just 'clerk' throughout the conversation.

Clerk: Good evening, sir.

Passenger: Good evening. Is this where I can check in for the flight to Phuket?

Clerk: Yes, absolutely. I am afraid that your flight has been delayed by one hour and ten minutes. It will leave at quarter past twelve.

Passenger: What! That is terrible.

Clerk: I am sorry, sir. The delay is due to bad weather. We can hardly do anything about it.

Passenger: Right.

Clerk: Can I please have your ticket and passport?

Passenger: Yes, sure. Here it is.

Clerk: Thank you.

Passenger: Can I take this handbag with me as hand luggage?

Clerk: Yes, sure. Provided it is small enough to fit under the seat or the Hand luggage compartment. Do you have any other luggage?

Passenger: Yes, I have two more bags, which I think will have to go in cargo.

Clerk: Did you get your luggage weighed? If it exceeds 30 kilograms, you will have to pay surcharges.

Passenger: No. Rather my luggage is within the 30 kilogram limit.

Clerk: That is good. Do you have a visa to enter Phuket?

Passenger: Yes, here it is.

Clerk: That is good to go. Please board from gate three. The boarding will start at 11:30. Have a nice flight, sir.

Passenger: Thank you.

That wasn't too difficult, was it? The first and foremost rung in the ladder of learning English is to be confident and open to learning. The English language is fun to learn and engaging, given that you approach it with the right attitude! If learning English is on your agenda, you should visit eAgeTutor and learn about the ways in which you can learn the wonderful English language.